Lubricant sales volumes in the United States fell 4 percent during the second quarter, compared to the same period of 2005, according to data released by the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association last week. Demand for all types of lubricants declined, while consumption of process oils underwent a moderate increase.
The associations Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales showed a 4.9 percent slide in volumes of automotive lubes for the three months ended June 30. Sales of industrial lubricants dropped 6.2 percent, while grease volumes dipped 2.3 percent. Industrial process oils showed the only gains, rising 2.5 percent from the year-ago period.
Compared to the average quarterly sales in the surveys index year of 2002, automotive lubes were off by 1.7 percent, industrial lubes by 4.8 percent, greases by 10.7 percent and process oils by 10 percent.
The report also included data from the U.S. Energy Information Agency indicating that U.S. refineries produced 17.7 million barrels of base oil during the second quarter, up 3 million barrels from the first quarter of this year, when an explosion sidelined the Excel Paralubes plant in Westlake, La., the second largest base oil plant in the Western Hemisphere. The second quarter figure was also 1.3 million barrels higher than the total for the same period of 2005.
NPRA notes that its quarterly surveys are based on responses from a limited number of suppliers and therefore should be used as in indicator of market trends, rather than a comprehensive assessment of the markets size.